Mashed Potatoes

What's Christmas dinner without a steaming side dish of buttery mashed potatoes? Serve them plain and simple or mashed with cheese, garlic, or other potato partners -- with our mashed potato recipes, you'll find the perfect side dish for your Christmas menu.

If your idea of a home-style meal isn't complete without a mouthwatering side of mashed potatoes, you're going to love the satisfaction of learning how to make mashed potatoes from scratch. Homemade mashed potatoes are creamy, filling and so much better than the instant variety. While this tasty side has gotten a bit of a bad rap thanks to the low-carb diet craze, mashed potatoes actually provide a number of essential nutrients, including fiber, protein, calcium, iron and a full 30 percent of your recommended daily intake of vitamin C in just a single serving.

Most cooks feel confident they know how to cook mashed potatoes. It's simple: just boil up some potatoes and mash them with butter, milk, and a little salt and pepper, right? Sure, that will work, but there's so much more you can do to punch up the flavor! By adding a few extra ingredients to the basic mashed potato recipe, you can make potatoes that go from everyday to gourmet with little effort.

It's T-minus-one week til Thanksgiving, and my menu plan is nearly complete! I've already told you about the simple yet sophisticated maple-pear salad and make-ahead roasted Brussels sprouts side dish I'll be serving, but no Thanksgiving spread would be complete without a bowl of rich and creamy mashed potatoes on the table. In the past I've used everything from butter and salt to cheese and bacon to jazz up the culinary blank canvas, but I think I've found something really special in Pesto Mashed Potatoes.

Knowing how to make mashed potatoes from scratch is one of those skills that every home cook needs to have. Why? Because mashed potatoes are a beloved, time-honored, elegant-yet-rustic side dish that goes pretty much any kind of meat, fish, or poultry. Because mashed potatoes are definitely in the top 5 of America's favorite comfort foods. Because everyone from babies to great-Grandpa loves them. And because everyone knows that a mound of mashed with a pool of hot gravy in the middle is a little piece of heaven on earth.

The trouble with mashed potatoes is -- what do you consider "perfect?" I like mine with lumps, skins and all the garlic in the world. Some people call those "smashed" rather than mashed, which is a nice distinction.

A heaping bowl of buttery mashed potatoes is all but mandatory at the Thanksgiving table, but what can you do with leftover spuds once all the guests have gone home? Actually, they're surprisingly versatile. With a little inspiration, your mashed potatoes will be transformed from side dish to the main event.

If the Thanksgiving feast is a work of art, then mashed potatoes are something like the canvas onto which all the other flavors come into play -- that is, if you can even think of a canvas that's simultaneously fluffy, creamy and melt-in-your-mouth delicious. Everything on the plate somehow ends up in contact with the mashed potatoes ... Oh, sorry, we just slipped into a daydream thinking of a forkful of mashed potatoes with a nibble of stuffing, sliver of turkey and a splash of cranberry sauce -- mmmmm...

We are never ones to argue with Cheesy Mashed Potatoes (click here for the recipe) as a great Thanksgiving side dish. Far from it, no holiday seems complete without this beloved side dish whose recipes probably have been passed down from generation to generation in most families. And the one we have here is a beaut -- starting with lovely baked potatoes that gets mashed to perfection and blended with sour cream, butter, and rich cheddar cheese.

If the thought of mashing potatoes this Thanksgiving is making you yawn, we've got just the wake-up call your holiday table needs. A hearty potato casserole! Not only is a potato casserole a tasty alternative, but these casseroles can be prepared in advance and warmed up before serving.